NORWICH striker Cameron Jerome scored for the fourth game in a row against his old club Cardiff to continue his hold over them.
And his 40th-minute winner ensured the Canaries made it a hat-trick of league wins.
Many fans at the start of the season would have had Norwich nailed on for automatic promotion. But finishing 2016 on a run of just two wins from 12 league games has killed off any hopes of reducing a 14-point gap to second-placed Brighton.
“Reaching the top two will be difficult,” said Canaries boss Alex Neil said. “We’ll have to go on an incredible run, which we have done before. But we’ll have a real focus on getting into the play-offs.
“We’re starting to hit good form at the right time. This is the time in the season to build momentum. We’ve now won three in a row after a good spell and it feels as if the players have real confidence at the moment.
“Our away form has been poor and I’ve been critical of it. We haven't been doing the ugly side of the game but we more than did that against Cardiff.
Denne historien er fra February 05, 2017-utgaven av The Football League Paper.
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Denne historien er fra February 05, 2017-utgaven av The Football League Paper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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NOLAN BIDS TO GIVE THE COBBLERS A REBOOT
NEW Northampton boss Kevin Nolan says restoring shattered confidence is his first priority at Sixfields.
'INCREDIBLE” MAGPIES HIT DONS HARD
NOTTS County boss Stuart Maynard hailed an \"incredible\" display after his side won at MK Dons.
100-UP HERO COOKS VALE
ANDY Cook was saluted by both managers after the Bradford striker scored a goal-of-the season contender in the Bantams' victory over Port Vale.
SUPER STAGS HUNT DOWN SORRY POSH
NIGEL Clough saluted his rampant Stags as Mansfield Nuted blew Peterborough away at London Road.
FLETCHER SPOT ON TO DEFEAT POOL & LEAVE BRUCE FUMING
STEVE Bruce slammed referee Ruebyn Ricardo for awarding Wrexham a late penalty against his Blackpool side from which they produced the winner.
LAMPARD HAS ROO FEELING SO SKY BLUE
FRANK Lampard admitI ted he has great sympathy with what counterpart Wayne Rooney is going through at Plymouth after their first managerial clash ended with a thumping Coventry triumph.
THORUP DELIGHT AS CITY BOUNCE BACK
NORWICH head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup will be looking to make it a Christmas double when his side entertain QPR today.
BULLISH EDWARDS DEFENDS HATTERS
'We did deserve a point'
Cullen brace sets a mark for Luke
LUKE Williams hailed a near-perfect performance by his Swansea side against QPR and hopes they can repeat the feat versus Luton today.
WARNE: WIN WILL GIVE US A BOOST
PAUL Warne admits his Derby side's win over West Brom will give them a much-needed boost as they prepare to host table-topping Leeds United this evening.